Breeding saddle apron for turkeys



Jan. 15, 1935. A. J. cooK y BREEDING SADDLE PRN FOR TURKEYS Filed July 20', 1934 .m f J .1

l Patented Jan. 415, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE nEEnnvo.- SADDLE Aiaonron 'rpnxars Ann J. cook, Northfield.' vappiielaien .my zo, '1934, serial Nel 736,191

comme. (ci. 11a-14s) My invention relates to protective `coverings Fig. 1 is a view of a turkey on which my device forfowls and particularly to protective coveris applied; ings for the upper sides of the bodies of hen Fig. 2 is a view of my device as it appears turkeys. when spread out flat;

6 Domesticated turkeyswhich are fattened for Fig. 3 is a side view of my'devicewhen the 5 the market are' much heavier than turkeys in same is curved to assume the attitude in which their wild or 'natural state and have skin and it is disposed when in place on a'turkey, and flesh which is much softer and much less re- Fig. 4 is a front end view when the device is sistant to injury.' During the breeding season curved to assume the attitude in which it is dis- 10 many hen turkeys have the skin and esh ofthe posed' when in place on a turkey. l 10 upper side of the body torn and mutilated by the Referring to the drawing, my breeding Saddle claws of the tom turkeys. .Such injuryoccurs apron is formed of flexible materialsuch as canwhen .thetom turkey loses his normal grip on vas or other suitable material and may or may the bases of the hens wings and, either .in not 'be colored to resemble the color Of a turkey'S l5 slipping or in seeking a new grip, slashes the plumage as may be desired. Y 15 hens back with his claws. Hens having muti- The forward edge 5a of the body or covering lated or scarred bodies naturally bring a much member 5. comprised in my device is intended to lower price in the market and hence the above extend between points closely adjacent the described damage to .the birds results in great oaSeS or the respective Win85 of a turkey and is losses to turkey raisers. made relatively short. From the respective ends 20' It is desirable that protective coverings for the of the forward edge 5G lthe forward portions 5b upper sides of the bodies of hen turkeys be proof the respective side edges of the covering curve -vided so as to prevent the damage' described diveringly rearwardly and outwardly to re- V above. While coverings intended for this pur- Spective points 5c, symmetrically located-relative pose have. been produced, no entirely satisfacto the covering 5 and spaced apart a vconiiider- 25 tory device or the kind has been heretofore ably greater distance than the respective ends evolved. Such a device, to be successful, must of the forward edge 5o. r be so designed that 'the major part thereof is From the points 5c tlle Side edge portions 5d concealed from the view of the bird upon which of the covering 5 first extend rearwardly and 3o it is placed .and this has not been done. When slightly outwardly and then curve convergently 3o a suiiiciently noticeable portion of such a device rearwardly and inwardly to meet the respective is. exposed to the view of the bird, the bird will ends of the rear edge 5e. The respective ends of be irritated thereby and will continually peck at ythe rear edge 5e are lspaced apart by a distance the device and normal development of the bird Somewhat greater than the distance between the,

will be retarded. l respective-ends of the forward edge 5a and con- 35 An object of my invention is to provide a siderably'less than the distance between respecbreeding saddle apron which, whenv placed upon y.tive ones of'the points 5c The forward and a turkey, willbe almost entirely hidden from the rearward edges 5a and 5e ot the covering 5 are view o: thebn-d, l disposed along straight parallel lines respectively 40 Another object is to provide such an apron extending tranSverSely of the covering 5. 40 wherein no part thereof of appreciable size is Suitable meanS'lS- provided for attaching the positioned forwardly of the wings ofthe bird to' covering 5 to the body of a turkey including which it is applied, wherein the device is inmost bands for encircling the bases of the respective entirely concealed by the wings of the bird and Wings and a band for extension across the breast wherein attachment tapes are concealed by the of the blrd- Each wing engaging band 6 oon- 4,5 plumage of the bird. sists of a strip 6a of non-elastic flexible mate- Still another object is to provide means in rial secured at one end to the corner of the' such a device for aiding a tom turkey in obtaincovering 5 formed at the Junction of the foring a'foothold. ward edge 5a and the adjoining portion 5b of These and other objects and advantages of the the side edge and connected at its other end to 50 invention will more fully appear from the folone end of a strip 6b of flexible, elastic material. lowing description made in connection with the The remaining end of the elastic strip 6b is |seaccompanying drawing, wherein like reference cured to the covering 5 at a point medial of the characters refer to the same or similar parts curved portion 5b of the side edge of the coverthroughout the various views, and in whichzing 5 as shown. 55

The breast engaging band 7 consists in its medial portion of a non-elastic flexible strip 'la to each end of which is secured one end of a. respective one of a pair of elastic, flexible strips '1b. The remaining end of each elastic strip '1b is secured to the cover 5 at one of the respective points 5c previously described.

It is to be noted that each side portion of the covering 5 lying between the point of attachment of the elastic strip 6b to the covering 5, the point 5c and the junction of the rear edge 5e with the portion 5d of the side edge of the covering 5 is shaped similarly to the shape of a turkeys wing but is somewhat smaller whereby this wing-shaped portion of the covering may be concealed between a wing and the body of a turkey.

Pleats 8, to assist a tom turkey in securing a foothold on the covering 5, are formed on the covering 5 in longitudinally extending relation thereto and in spaced parallel relation to each other.

In applying my device to a. turkey the bands or loops 6 are slipped over the respective wings and are positioned to encircle the bases of the wings. The elastic strip 6b forming part of each loop 6 causes the loop to gently grip the base of the wing. The band '7 is positioned to extend across the breast ofthe bird and because of the elastic portions l'lb thereof firmly holds down the wing-shaped side portions of -the covering 5 and holds the medial portion of .the covering 5 in place on the upper side of the body of the bird.

The bands 6 and '7 sink into and are overlapped by the plumage of the bird and are hence concealed. The wing-shaped side portions of the covering are disposed between the wings and the body of the bird and` are hence concealed by the wings as shown in Fig. 1. The only part o'f the device remaining-unconcealed is a narrow portion of the covering 5 disposed along and adjacent to the longitudinal center line of the device. It has been found that this remainlng unconcealed portion is sufllciently small and inconspicuous and is so located that the turkey to which the device is applied pays no attention to thesame. This small unconcealed portion may be made still less conspicuous by suitably coloring the same to approximately blend with the color ofthe particular breed of turkeys with which the device is to-be used.

The covering 5 is hemmed or otherwise bound along its entire periphery partially to improve they appearance thereof and partially to prevent tearing or fraying.

While my breeding saddle apron has been illustrated and described as for use in connection with turkeys it is obvious that it may be Areadily adapted for use in connection with many is almost entirely concealed by portions of the bird to which it is applied and which in no way annoys or irritates the bird to which it is applied- It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, pro.

portions and arrangement of the parts, without departing from the scope of my invention, which, gene'rally stated, consists in a device `capable of carrying out the objects above set forth and in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed isz- 1. A protective apron for fowls comprising a covering adapted to be placed upon the upper 'side of the body of a fowl,said covering having width dimensions less than the length and width A dimensions ofsaid fowl whereby said side portions will be concealed by the wings of said fowl when said wings are in normal position against the body of said fowl.

2. A protective apron for fowls comprising a covering adapted to be placed upon the upper side of the body of a fowl, said covering terminating at its forward end at the base of the wings of said fowl and at its rearward end somewhat short of the tips of said wings, said covering having a relatively narrow longitudinal central portion and side portions extending laterally outwardly from said central portion, said side portions each having a shape similar to that of the wing of a fowl but being somewhat smaller in dimensions and means for securing said covering to said fowl whereby said side portions, when disposed between the body and wings of said fowl, are concealed by said wings.

3. A protective apron for fowls comprising a covering adapted to be placed upon the upper side of the body of a fowl, said covering having a relatively narrow longitudinal center portion extending rearwardly from a line extending between the bases of the wings of said fowl to a point rearwardly disposed therefrom but forward of the tips of said wings and side portions extending laterally of said center portion, said side portions each having a shape generally similar to that of a wing of said fowl but being somewhat smaller in dimensions, whereby said side portions, when extending between the body and wings of said fowl, are concealed by said wings, and narrow flexible bands secured to the forward portion of said covering and forming loops for encircling the bases of the respective wings, said bands being adapted to sink into and. be concealed by the plumage of said fowl.

4. A protective apron for fowls comprising a covering adapted to be placed upon the upper side of the body of a fowl, said covering having a relatively narrow longitudinal center portion extending rearwardly from a line extending between thebases of the wings of said fowl to a point rearwardly disposed therefrom but forward of the tips of said wings, side portions extending laterally of said center portion, said side portions each having a shape generally similar to that of a wing of said fowl but being somewhat smaller in dimensions, whereby said side portions, when disposed between the body and wings of said fowl, are concealed by said wings, narrow flexible bands secured to the forward portion of said covering and'forming loops for encircling the bases of the l respective wings and a`third narrow exible band attached at its respective ends to said side portions to extend across the breast of said fowl, said bands all being adapted to sink into and be concealed by the plumage of said fowl.

5. A protective apron for fowls comprising a protective covering formed of fiexible material and adapted to be placed upon the back of a attachment loops and said and adpted fowl, the forward end of said covering being adapted to .extend between the bases of the respective wings narrow, the'edges of said covering curving divergently rearwardly from ythe forward end thereof tothe medial portion thereof, said medial portion being of a width whereby the sidewardly extending parts thereof will extend at each side thereof between the body anda wing of said fowl to be concealed by said wing, said covering curving convergently inwardly toward the rear and the rearmost portion thereof being relatively narrow. an attachment loop adapted for -encircling the base of a wing and attached to said covering adjacent each end of the forward edge thereof and an attachment strip adapted to extend across the breast of said fowl attached at opposite ends to the respective side edges of the medial portion of said covering, said ing adapted to sink into and be concealed by the plumage of said fowl. v

6. A protective apron for female fowls co prising a covering formed of flexible material to be placed upon the'upper side of the body of a fowl, means for securing said covering to said `fowl and pleats formed in portions of said covering to provide a foothold for a male fowl.

7. A protective apron for female fowls comprising a covering formed of flexible material and adapted to be placed upon the upper side of the body of a fowl. said covering including a relatively narrow'center portion extending lonof said fowl and being relatively and adapted to be attachment strip begitudinally rearwardly of said fowl from adjacent the bases of the Wings of said fowl, pleats longitudinally thereof to provide a foothold for a male fowl and means for securing said covering to said female fowl.

8. A protective apron for female fowls comprising a covering formed of exible material placed upon the upper side of the body of a fowl, said covering having a relatively narrow longitudinal center portion expoint substantially tending rearwardly from a aligned with the bases of the wings of said fowl and side portions extending laterally of said center portion, pleats formed in said center p0rtion and extending longitudinally thereof to provide afoothold for a male fowl and means for ecuring said covering' to the body of said female owl.

9.*A protective apron for female fowls oomprising a covering formed of flexible material and adapted to be placed upon the upper side of the body of said fowl, means for securing said covering to said fowl, said covering including a relatively narrow center portion extending rearwardly with respect the basesl of the wings lof said fowl and side portions extending laterally from respective sides of said center portion, and 4s. series of spaced parallel pleats formed in said center portion and extending longitudinally thereof to provide a foothold for a male fowl.

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.formed in said center portion and extending v to said fowl from adjacent 1 

